Ballot blow to board results

Ranchi, March 8: The publication of matric and intermediate examination results in the state may be delayed because of the involvement of a large number of teachers in Lok Sabha polls.

Officials of Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) said that a bulk of teachers roped in to evaluate answer scripts of the 2013 examinations had also been requisitioned for poll duties.

Sources said more than 10,000 teachers and non-teaching employees of government schools across the state had been requisitioned for the polls.

According to JAC academic calendar, the date of publication of Class X and XII results are May 10 and May 31 respectively.

JAC secretary Sushil Kumar Roy said that it was unlikely that the results would be published before June.

“Many of our examiners and head-examiners will now get busy attending training programmes for election-related work. Their absence will lead to disruption in the process of evaluation of answer scripts. We may therefore have to face difficulty in publishing the results on time,” he reasoned.

The election department will start weeklong training camps, before the three-phased polls in Jharkhand on April 10, 17 and 24.

The teachers will have to report again for election duty on the three dates and will be released after the process of counting and announcement of results are complete on May 16.

“It will be a Herculean task for them to evaluate answer scripts on time. We expect to bring out the results of both the examinations by mid or end June,” Roy added.

The teachers of the government schools also pleaded their inability to handle the dual task.

“Although JAC board examinations will get over on scheduled time before elections, how will we manage poll duties and evaluation together. It’s too much of a work pressure for us,” rued Santosh Kumar, a science teacher at Government High School on Ratu Road.

School authorities extended their full support to the teachers called for poll duty.

“These teachers have to undergo training and understand the work related to elections. Hence, we do not have any other option than to go for delayed exam results,” said Ranchi district education officer Shiv Charan Marandi.